Almost every Friday night, the Federal Depositors Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announces on its web site which banks it has seized that day. This has become a regular part of FDIC routine as the economy continues to respond to the recent economic upheavals.

The established FDIC bank seizure procedure is for a bank to be seized on a Friday and have it open under its new ownership by the following Monday morning. The goal is to minimize any disruption in service for the bank's clients. As of September 11, 2008, the FDIC has seized 111 banks across the United States.

To give you some perspective on this, more banks have failed and been seized since January 1, 2008 than have failed and been seized by the FDIC in the previous 15 years. The FDIC has been very, very busy.

If you were worried about your money in the stock market, do you now need to worry about your cash in the bank? What can you do to make sure your bank is safe? There are a number of things you can do to allay your concern.

First, make sure your bank is insured with the FDIC. Look it up using the 'Bank Find' tool on the FDIC website (www.FDIC.gov), or you may telephone them at 877-275-3342. If your money is sitting at a credit union, these are covered by the National Credit Union Share Insurance fund. You may look up your credit union at www.ncua.com or telephone 800-775-1030 to see if your credit union is covered.

Do this yourself. Do not take the bank or credit union's word for it.

Secondly, be certain your deposits are within the insurance requirements. For banks, there is a $100,000 limit for single accounts that has been temporarily raised to $250,000. The Deposit Insurance applies to a bank (but not separately to each branch) and there are eight different categories of ownership, so you may be covered for more than the initial amount.

To find out the amounts, categories covered and see the frequently asked questions visit: http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured/index.html. For a specific coverage limits use and access to the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) you can visit: https://www.fdic.gov/EDIE/index.html.

If you have more money than is covered by the limits you have the option of moving the uncovered amount of money to other FDIC insured banks.

If your bank does fail, and your account balance is under the limits of the FDIC insurance thresholds, you will have continuous access to your funds. Additionally, the FDIC has been covering amounts that are uninsured but, it may take time (sometimes up to 90 days) for additional funds to be covered. As of August, 2009, the FDIC was covering about 77% of the uninsured losses.

If you would like updates on which banks have failed you will find the entire list at the FDIC Failed Bank's List at www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html. The FDIC does maintain a list of "Problem Banks," but it does not publish this list. There are a number of lists that have been created that attempt to simulate the FDIC's. If you would like to see if your bank is on any of these other lists please give us a call. Bluemont Capital Advisors, LLC will be happy to help you find out if your bank appears on any of these other lists.

Carolyn E. Stys is the President of Bluemont Capital Advisors.